ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

Melinda Lee Masur

Lauded for her “impeccable technique and artistic interpretation” [The Columbian], pianist Melinda Lee Masur has performed on all three stages of Carnegie Hall, at London's Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, the Berliner Philharmonie, at the Ravinia Festival, Festival Les Muséiques Basel and in Boston’s Symphony Hall. An avid chamber musician, Masur has performed with such artists as Augustin Hadelich, Alban Gerhardt, Fanny Clamagirand, Adrian Brendel and Thomas Quasthoff.

She is pianist and founding member of The Lee Trio, praised worldwide for its “gripping immediacy and freshness” and "rich palette of tone colours" [The Strad]. The Trio has garnered awards such as the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin and has given world, American and European premieres of piano trios by composers including Edmund Finnis, Uljas Pulkkis, Nathaniel Stookey, Philip Lasser, Jane Antonia Cornish & Sylvie Bodorova and garnered awards such as the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin.

Masur has a passion for working with the next generations of musicians and has served on the faculty at the University of Chicago and Boston University, and given masterclasses at colleges & universities such as the SF Conservatory of Music, Lewis & Clark College, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee's School of Music, University of Utah's School of Music, Gordon College, Biola University, Wheaton College, and the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy in Romania. Masur is the Director of Piano Chamber Music and Co-Director of the Young Artists Piano Program at the BU Tanglewood Institute. A graduate of Harvard University and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, Germany, Melinda Lee Masur is a Steinway Artist. www.theleetrio.com

Ken-David Masur

Conductor and Grammy-nominated producer Ken-David Masur has been hailed as “fearless” [SD Union Tribune] and “a brilliant and commanding conductor” [Leipziger Volkszeitung]. As the Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Masur leads a range of dynamic programs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, where his programming throughout the season continues to increase representation in the performance canon. He recently concluded the second year of an MSO artistic partnership with pianist Aaron Diehl, a collaboration forged through several seasons of the Chelsea Music Festival, and begins a new partnership with baritone Dashon Burton. As Principal Conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Masur leads concerts throughout the season, including an annual Bach Marathon.

Other recent engagements include debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, and a return to Poland’s Wroclaw Philharmonic. Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with the young musicians of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has led orchestras and masterclasses at Juilliard, the New England Conservatory, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and at leading universities and conservatories throughout the world. Masur graduated from Columbia University, where he served as first Music Director of the Bach Society Orchestra, building on his education as boy soprano in the Gewandhaus Children‘s Chorus. www.kendavidmasur.com